Ten good reasons to send your children on a boat

Daniela Clark, sailing instructor, marine photographer and author of the blog Waterviews, has compiled in her career as an “editor” some lists of reasons why your children should absolutely go boating. We read them (both HERE and HERE) and, sharing their spirit 100%, decided to freely translate them for you by way of a decalogue.

THE 10 REASONS WHY YOUR CHILD SHOULD GO SAILING

1. SELF-CONFIDENCE
There is nothing comparable to helming your own “buoy” as a child. Riding a bike is one thing. Skillfully maneuvering a boat is anything but; nothing like sailing has helped me in gaining self-confidence. I have noticed it on myself but I have spotted it in all my students during my more than a decade of experience as a sailing instructor

2. AWARENESS OF SPACES
When children learn to maneuver a boat in tight spaces, to make tight turns to avoid collisions, to squeeze through a gap between two boats at the starting line of a regatta, they develop an awareness of spaces that will help them in the future to be more adept at activities that require coordination (such as driving a car, for example).

3. SENSE OF DIRECTION
When I was 10 years old, on weekends I loved, armed with a packed lunch, to go out aboard my Optimist for a few hours, just for the sake of exploring and breaking away from the mainland. I think it was because of these small trips that I developed a good sense of direction. Realizing which direction I had started from and identifying landmarks, knowing how to go back had become a normal stream of consciousness. Awareness is fundamental to having a sense of direction.

4. WEATHER KNOWLEDGE
Do you know which direction thunderstorms usually come from? How cold is the sea water in May? If your son is a sailor, he will know. Knowledge of weather is useful both on the water and on land.

5. FORMA MENTIS IMPRINTED WITH ORDER
Students in a sailing course learn how to rig and unrig a boat, how to put things in the right place and keep them in order while sailing. This is a skill that, as parents, you will greatly appreciate!

6. TENACITY.
Have you ever raced on Optimist in winter? Perhaps the temperature is similar to what you may encounter on the ski slopes, but you can’t squeeze into a lodge to get hot chocolate or a hamburger in the middle of the sea! The little sailors are tenacious, don’t complain, and usually, after the race is over, worry first about putting the boat away than warming up, drying off, and changing.

7. SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Taking the helm empowers the child (whether a racer or just a recreational sailor) because action equals reaction. Empowerment that is unlikely to take place in other areas before getting a driver’s license.

8. VISION
Knowing how to balance details in boat tuning by relating them to the larger context of the race course or sailing area is a skill that is good to hone. This “balance” can help in school and in the future in the world of work and life.

9. COURAGE
Little sailors go beyond their natural threshold of fear. Most children are terrified of scuffing before they have experienced scuffing. Others are afraid of the high winds: but they eventually overcome their fears. It is the instructors’ job to keep the situation under control, but ultimately it is up to the child to conquer his or her fears.

10. PATIENCE
Waiting for the wind not to arrive in the middle of the sea requires a very high dose of patience. Often in a two-day Optimist regatta, you’re racing for an hour and a half total: waiting for the right weather conditions is part of sailing, the kids accept that. A team of 12-year-old soccer players, if they were to let two days pass to play 90 minutes, how would they react?

HAVE WE CONVINCED YOU? HERE’S HOW TO GET YOUR KIDS STARTED (AND WHAT BOATS)